Improvement in dress-shields



carry the moisture between'the overlapped cemented seam in the centerofthe shild,\ v which seam comes in contact with the person,

`above-described constructions and to that end tector, formed from a webof rubber cloth cutv PATENT OEEIoE.

FREDERICK WITTRAM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRESS-SHIELDS.

Specification forming part of 'Letters Patent No. 72,941, dated February1, 1876; application iledl Novemb'er 23, 1875. n

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK WITTRAM, of the city and county of NewYork, State of New York, have invented and made a new and usefulImprovementin Dress-Shields, and the following is declared to be acorrect description thereof. l

Dress shields or'protectors adapted to be inserted Within the dress andbeneath` the arms to prevent perspiration from passing into the fabricof the dress, or other garment,- and thereby injuring` the same, have pheretofore been made of india-rubber, oil-silk, and other repellents ofwater.

These shields have been usually made of two or more pieces of rubbercloth` cut into crescent-shaped pieces sewed together, or having theirconcaveedges united by overlapping and cementing one tothe other.

The first of -these constructions al'ords, in the threads composing theseam uniting the parts,. a sure means of early destruction, since thethreads, by capillary attraction, soon parts, causing it to penetratethe fabric forming the article, the result' being that it soon.

rots and becomes useless.

The secon d construction necessitates a heavy and-is cumbersome andannoying' to the wearer. lt-has been essayed to make a dress-shield froman oval piece of linen, muslim-or such fabric, simply folded togetherwithout any seam, the mode being to press the fabric into shape with aheated ironyhutsuch device fails to retain a 'proper shape, and lispractically valueless. n a

It is the object -of my invention. to overcome the objections inherentin all of the it consists in a seamless' dressshield or proon the biasand stretched andv folded upon itself,thus providing an articlewith aconcave fold, which, Whilel pliable and soft, will retain its shape andt the arm-pit Without buckling.

vIn the manufacture of v my .improved article I take cloth coatedv onone side with gum, (rubber,) and cut from it pieces of elliptical form,Fig. 3, care'being taken that the Warp and Woof run at considerableangles to the` longitudinal and transverse centers of the pieces. Thesepieces are then soaked in Water until the threads composing the clothare rendered soft and pliable. In this state they vare doubled or foldedinto the form shown in Figs. 4.and 2, and the fold thus formed,stretched, or'crimped into the concave shape shown in Fig. 1` theoperation being analogous to the blocking of and crimping of boots, theelasticity or stretch necessary to form the concave seam being affordedby the angularposition of the threads of the fabric, with respect to thefold, and the result being that the said threads, instead of beingstretched in the direction of their length, simply change their relativepositions 'from crossing each other at right'angles to those which varymore or less therefrom. l The operation of' crimping or stretching maybe accomplished by hand, or by mechan- A- ism, a suitable shaping moldand stretching devices being alone requisite for the purpose.

'I usually crimp one piece of the cloth With the gummed surface on theoutside, and auother piecepWith the gummed surface on the inside, andthen place the two together, so that their gummed-surfaces will adhere.One v piecefmay be of plaiircloth, causedto'adhere to the gummed side ofa companion piece.

The pieces of cloth may be crimped before they are united, as beforeexplained, or cloth having rubber in it, or upon one or both surfaces,or two pieces unitedfby rubber, may be crimped into proper form, andseveral such pieces may be crimped at one time. What I claim isi Adress-shield, formed 'of a seamless bias piece of rubber cloth,substantially as herein described and shown'.

FREDERICK WITTRAM.

Witnesses:l

* CLARK F. WHITTEMORE, G. W. DAVENPORT.

